Balu – a friend of mine & I visited quite a few temples in and around Kumbakonam, Tanjore & Trichy between 1st January 2010 and 4th January 2010. On 4th of January 2010, we visited a very nice temple and wanted to share some details about the temple. Ulaganayaki sametha Vasishteswaraswamy temple in Thittai is about 10kms from Tanjore on the Tanjore Melathur Road.

Vasishteshwarar Temple, Thenkudi Thittai, Guru Parihara Sthalam

Thittai, in Tamil means a Mound. It here during the Great Deluge (Pralayam) that Brahma & Vishnu worshiped Lord Shiva for protection. This was the only place which had not submerged in the deluge. They worshiped the Lingam that they found here. Pleased with their Devotion, Lord Shiva delegated the duties of Creation & Protection to Brahma & Vishnu respectively.

The Lingam here is Swayambhu (Swayam – self & bhu – to be; Swayambhu means self manifest). Sage Vasishta is believed to have worshiped the Lord here and hence the name Vasishteswarar. He is also called Theerurnathar, Pasupathynathar, Radhapureeswarar or Dheenupureeswarar. Yama got rid of curse after worshiping this deity. The divine consort of Vasishteswarar is Ulaganayaki, Sugantha Kunthaleswari and Mangaleswari. The Goddess Ulaganayaki is known as Sugantha Kunthalambigai since a Vaisya girl by name Sugantha Kunthala got her deceased husband back to life after worshiping Ulaganayaki here. Therefore, Ulaganayaki is worshiped by the married women for the long life of their husband.

There are four Lingas in the four corners and the fifth linga is the main deity, hence this is a pancha linga kshetram. This is also called the Pancha Bhootha Kshetra. The temple tank here is Chakra Theertham, believed to have been created by Lord Vishnu’s chakra.

This is a Parihara sthalam for Guru. Lord Guru is seen in a separate shrine between swami and ambal. Guru here is Raja Guru and is in standing posture, with 4 hands holding his weapons and a book. (In Alangudi, the main Guru Parihara sthalam, Lord Dakshinamurthy is worshipped as Guru.) He is believed to have given upadesam to Vasishta muni. Worshiping the Guru here and subsequently worshiping Chandran at Thingalur, on the same day, is supposed to bring the Guru Chandra Yogam in ones horoscope. This is supposed to be very good for the inmate of the horoscope.

About the temple in Tamil, Guru Sthalam, Thittai

This temple is MUST SEE even for those who are not religiously inclined.Devotees are allowed right upto the entrance of the garbagraham. There is a small hole on the ceiling in the GarbaGraham, and a drop of water falls on the linga every 24 minutes ie 1 Nazhigai. If you are patient enough, you can actually witness this amazing phenomenon. The Chandragandham and the Suryagandham stones in the tower are supposed to be absorbing the moisture from the atmosphere and converting it to water. The amazing fact is that the interval of 24 minutes per drop is maintained irrespective of whether it is day or night, summer or winter. This part is unexplained. The complete temple is built of stones, including the walls, pillars, roof and the floor. A real Architectural Marvel. Clearly, an evidence of Scientific and Architectural advancement in ancient India.

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6 Responses to “Thittai Guru Sthalam”

thanks for visiting my blog.
Narayan
When you are visiting Karaikudi visit temple at Tirukoshtiyur-Sowmya Narayana temple and Pattamangalam – Dakshina moorhty temples which are only 10 kms from Tirupathur, I am yet to write on these temples though I have visited them already.Tirukoshtiyur is one of the 108 divyadesams of Vishnu

I have decided to be a regular visitor here as I can learn lot from your blogs. It may help me for my temple visits too.You have lot of information which I shall be reading one by one, I shall wait for your Karaikudi posts.I could not take photos of Ariyakudi and Kundrakudi temples.That I visited much before, I started blogging.If possible do take and publish here.
Thanks.

Thanks a lot for the info. Today morning only my Beloved Srikavi described about this temple in Jaya TV.
What a coincidence. Though i lived in Darasurram and kumbakonam for 10 years, i didnt heard the story. MY Father’s friends used to come and we are not informed about this. But I used to Visit Vishnu Durgai during Ragu kalam on sundays during my yester years by cycle without knowing the significance of ragukalam., Now i am told immense about the goddess.
Next time i will definitely visit Thittai

The information was very useful and definitely intrigued me. I also got the Archagar to elaborate me on this. He told me it will be more frequent in winter season owing to cooler Atmospheric conditions